The University is hosting the 16th annual Association of Black Cultural Centers Conference Thursday through Sunday, with on and off-campus events each day that will feature a number of internationally known scholars and speakers. The ABCC national headquarters relocated to campus this year from Knox College, a liberal arts school in Ohio. This is the first time Raleigh and the University are hosting the conference.

Fred Hord is the executive director of the ABCC, as well its founder, and is the director of the University’s African American Cultural Center and a professor of Africana studies. He moved to Raleigh when the ABCC headquarters moved here and is in charge of overseeing the planning and organization of the conference. He said he hopes that by hosting this event, N.C. State can help the organization grow.

“The conference helps students understand each other,” Hord said. “Networking seems to be very beneficial [to the conference].”

According to Hord, all the events will be on campus Thursday, and on Friday and Saturday there will be separate tracks for both students and professionals, although many students attend events for both.

The conference will begin Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Talley Student Center, and Nell Painter from Princeton University will speak. At 7:30 p.m. there will be a reception and at 9:30 p.m. in Stewart Theatre, a movie on the Greensboro sit-ins will be shown. All events on Thursday are free and students do not need to register to participate.

According to Hord, students have outnumbered professionals at every conference since 1994.

“There are 800 seats,” he said. “If we don’t pack Stewart [Theatre] on Thursday it will be a shame.”

This year’s theme is “black cultural centers on 21st century campuses,” and according to Hord, will feature internationally known speakers from schools such as Chicago State, Columbia and Princeton.

Robert Waldrup, a senior in meteorology and the student senator for the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, accompanied Hord to the conference last year along with two other students. The conference was held at the University of Kentucky.

“Everyone among the students has an open mind,” Waldrup said. “Everyone was pretty much on the same page.”

According to Waldrup, the conference is a good way for students to learn about different centers. He said every center has a different set of problems that they are tackling, and the experience gave him insight on how the center on campus can be improved.

Jose Picart, the vice provost of the office for diversity and African American student affairs, said he began his role at the University after serving on the faculty at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. for 18 years. Picart said he was also at last year’s conference, and was involved in the planning this year.

Picart said he hopes that the conference will give students a better appreciation for the impact that cultural centers have on student life.

“[Students] have a chance to interact with [other] students from around the world,” Picart said.

Picart added that the conference also serves to help the black community understand that the University is committed to African American affairs.